We look at the parables of the mustard seed, the yeast, the buried treasure, the pearl of great worth, and the dragnet. We focus on the parables of the mustard seed and the yeast, noticing their scrappiness and their need for “death” or “emptying” in order for growth.
This week, we jump back into the middle of Matthew and find Jesus sending his disciples out to depend upon the hospitality of a people he expects to be inhospitable. We find our mission in this same calling at Living Water.
We take a look at the stoning of Stephen and find that he, too, was living an abundant life in the Spirit even as he was en route to death.
We continue in the Sermon on the Mount, where we find that to be salt and light in this world means to turn the other cheek and love even our enemies.
In this second week of Advent, we look at the promise of a kingdom of God so full of peace that it overcomes the strife between humanity and the wild, and we see how this kingdom comes through the righteous judgment of Christ.